


Pining and Solve Crime-ing

by Who0psyDaisy



Series: Adventures of the Dumb Cop and her Rat Husband [3]
Category: Epithet Erased (Cartoon)
Genre: Art/Fic Trade, Buddy Cops, Case Fic, Crime Solving, Early Mornings, F/M, One-Sided Attraction, Percy is cute, Pining, a lot of paper work, a03 finally has a ship tag for them, again its ramsey, amen, art gallery 'date', hand holding, he judges the paint on the walls, i have a lot of homework that im not doing: part 4, percy is autistic and you can pry that from my cold dead hands, percy only sleeps in the arms of her rat uwu, percy runs out of stamina and uses ramsey as support: a trope, ramsey is an art critic, ramsey is not a morning person, ramsey may be a rat but at least he isn't a ferret, specifically requested pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:08:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22179085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Who0psyDaisy/pseuds/Who0psyDaisy
Summary: Percy and Ramsey are now partners-in-law. And they have a new case on their hands.Also know as, Percy and Ramsey are the ultimate crime-fighting duo, Percy is cute and Ramsey pines.
Relationships: Percival "Percy" King/Ramsey Murdoch, Ramsey Murdoch/Percival 'Percy' King
Series: Adventures of the Dumb Cop and her Rat Husband [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1591870
Comments: 57
Kudos: 199





	1. The good, the okay and the Ferret

**Author's Note:**

> This is an art/fic trade with @cronchingsquips!! I go into more detail in the endnotes, so be sure to read them!!!!
> 
> Things to note:  
> \- Ramsey is wearing the same thing that he wore in cuffs and cuddles (black jacket, red tee, white pants). he isn't solving crime in dad beach gear.  
> \- this is pre-cuffs and cuddles.

“So what’s the crime?”

“Someone got into the Sweet Jazz Art Gallery last night and stole a painting that was supposed to go on auction next week” Percy’s eyes were trained to the road, expertly navigating the early morning traffic.

Ramsey, who had previously been chugging on coffee and trying to not fall asleep suddenly perked up.

“So you needed me for my excellent art appraisal skills eh?”

“Well yes but you’re also my partner so you didn’t get a choice.”

Ah yes. After a month or so of prison time, the ‘comfortable cell’ had transitioned to house arrest (at Percy’s place), to police consultant and eventually where they were now, Ramsey officially becoming Percy’s Partner after the city’s chief had seen them work extremely well together. This was their second crime as partners, the first flying by so fast mainly due to Ramsey’s… unique perspective.

“Way to make a guy feel wanted, Perce”

“You are” she smiled, most likely at him, but her face didn’t turn from the road. The rising sun bathed her in a golden light and seemed to make said smile even brighter.

_Ohgodohfuckohgodshessocute_

“So uh anything else I need to know before we get there?”

“I gave you the case file.”

“It’s 7:30am my eye doesn’t work yet.”

* * *

Two pairs of footsteps clicked in the large hall. The white walls were lined in paintings that documented life from long ago, all worth hundreds of thousands of dollars (some of them even peaked into the millions).

Ramsey whistled in awe at the sheer size of the collection. Being an artist himself he could appreciate (and appraise) almost everything he came across. He did a spin to fully take in the size of the place.

Huh. That was weird. One of them looked shiner than the others.

Probably the light.

He broke out of his trance when he heard a small giggle next to him.

He folded his arms. “What’s so funny?” _ohgodthatlaughwassocute_

“Nothing, you just seem to be enjoying yourself” she smiled up at him.

“Can’t you appreciate good art? You can date these by their brushstrokes! Each one reflects the painter!”

“I’m more of a ‘story through architecture’ person myself”

“That makes sense.” He hummed. “So where do you go instead of art gallery’s?”

“I find it quite interesting going around medieval castle ruins. Likewise with you and your paintings, you can tell the age of a castle by something so simple as the stone placement. It’s all very fascinating.”

Watching her talk about something she was passionate about gave Ramsey a warm fuzzy feeling in his chest. And if he made a mental note to take her to a castle and treat her like royalty? Well no-one needed to know.

Eventually they made it to the part of the ridiculously long hall to the Scene Of The Crime.

“What have you found so far?” Percy turned away from him and spoke to one of the SOCO, who had previously been overseeing the other SOCO.

Ramsey tuned them out and examined the wall where the painting should have been. There was no faded or yellowed paint to suggest that the painting itself had been there a long time, so the exhibit itself was new. Or the wall had been freshly painted. Either way, something wasn’t right about it. When he looked in the file he didn’t recognise the painting itself, strange compared to his immediate recognition of every other painting they had come across so far.

“There was no sign of forced entry, and all CCTV footage was immediately scrambled by a laser” the short blond appeared beside him, folding her arms.

“So an inside job?” the rat man didn’t miss a beat, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Most likely.”

“Bit confused on why they’d steal this painting though, I mean, nobody even knows what it is.”

“Hm?” she looked up at him, azure eyes twinkling with curiosity, or what he knew as the ‘Percy has a hunch’ look.

“The painting. As of now it’s worthless, until some billionaire jacks up the price. Why anyone would steal it is beyond me.”

“What happens to a painting if it’s stolen and recovered?”

“It’s worth more?” he raised an eyebrow, too tired to follow where she was leading.

“I believe we have our first lead!”

Ramsey blinked.

“Oh. I see.”

_God she’s smart._

* * *

The Art Gallery owner rushed up to them clasped his hands together. “oh detectives! I hope you’re getting closer to finding the scoundrel who stole the painting!”

A woman who looked like his assistant stood a small way behind him, a clipboard in hand and with a curt frown on her face. She wore a grey dress suit, which seemed a bit lacklustre compared to the Owner's flashy black and red one.

“Not a detective” Ramsey deadpanned, folding his arms and looking at the ferret-like man in front of them.

“Yes Mr Owner, we are” Percy piped up, choosing to ignore Ramsey’s comment in order to not complicate things.

The owner looked at her expectantly.

“I am not under jurisdiction to disclose that to you Mr Owner, doing so could jeopardise the investigation.”

Ramsey studied the man’s face, which briefly flickered into worry when Percy had spoken, but was swiftly covered up again with the general concern of a gallery owner.

“o-okay” the owner hesitantly replied. “I’ll leave you two get on with your jobs, but please, I need it to be found by the auction next week!”

“We will try out best citizen” The blonde curtly nodded to him, as he walked away. “let’s head back to the station, we can review the CCTV in more detail there”. She made a step to swivel around but paused and waited for Ramsey to follow.

His eye was still trained on the owner.

She coughed.

“huh? Oh right yeah let’s go”

* * *

“It seems to cut and dry” he declared, once the both of them were strapped in their seats. This time Ramsey was driving.

“A lot of crimes like this are”

He shook his head. “it’s too clean. Too obvious. That man is hiding something by making it look like he’s guilty. No matter how good you are there is always a trail”

Percy hummed. “Well I suppose he couldn’t have worked alone”

“He probably hired help.”

The car stopped at a red light.

He turned to Percy, eyes widening in realisation.

“What if he only did the basic swap thing, but the hired help committed something behind his back?”

“And he couldn’t tell us about it as that would place him as guilty” Percy finished off, in perfect sync with Ramsey.

“All we need to do is figure out who they are and what they did”.

The light turned green.

“So after we solve this what do you want to do to celebrate? I’m thinkin we find some ruins in the woods and have a picnic there, or maybe just watch a movie-”

“there’s ruins in the woods?” her voice seemed excited, laced with a curiosity he had grown so fond of.

“I’m pretty sure there’s ruins in every forest, you just gotta look.” He shrugged, quickly glancing at her. She slouched back into the chair, abandoning her rigid posture from earlier. One arm rested on the window, the other fiddled with the case file on her lap.

“I’ll be sure to keep that I mind.” She smiled.

There were two times Ramsey loved Percy the most:

  * When she was solving a case
  * When she smiled



And somehow he managed to score a double whammy.

He couldn’t wait for them to solve this case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to point out that I, op, grew up and live in a heavily wooded area that has a bunch of ruins in it. My highschool was surrounded by trees and just down the road, there's the ruins of a castle. My view of forests may be skewed because of this.
> 
> also, the plot of this is inspired by Swine Radio, another Ramsival fic by Windmill!! its really good and you should check it out ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/21983563 )
> 
> this one is a little different! I did an art/fic trade with tumblr@cronchingsquips! She does these amazing doodles of Percy and Ramsey (and the rest of the ee cast) and she's yelled in the tags on one of my fics (always appreciated) so I approached her and asked if she was interested in doing a trade!
> 
> So she's doodling a pic from one of my previous three fics (i don't know which and I'm buzzing with excitement!!), and I wrote them this!
> 
> Her request:  
> Cronch: ramsey pining for percy (eyes emoji)??  
> Me: ooohohohoo (eyes emoji x3) any particular setting?  
> Cronch: myabe jus like,, theyre on a partner mission or sumn,, !!
> 
> Don't forget to comment! On Cuffs and Cuddles i got a bunch and it made me really happy and inspired! So once again I'm mentioning that during the month of January you have to comment on all the fics you read and enjoy!! a small price to pay for happiness and more fics!!
> 
> (and check out Tumblr @cronchingsquips, ((( https://cronchingsquips.tumblr.com/ ))) her ramsival doodles are amazing and I love them. (I'll link the art once it is uploaded so don't forget to recheck this out!)


	2. Stifle the Yawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you stayed up till dawn,  
> let's see what you've been working on~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, i have poor impulse control and decided to make this a multi-chapter fic.
> 
> *blows kiss* for Cronch, Windmill and Anasten27
> 
> All chapters are planned!! it just needs me to get to the writing of it lol.

Percy cradled a cup of hot chocolate to her chest, as she looked over their notes with bleary eyes for the 23rd time.

She stifled a yawn, and outstretched a hand to switch the page, but it never got there. Another, larger hand gently pushed hers down.

Ramsey stood above her, his own (empty) mug grasped like he was trying to pull out any of the lingering warmth.

“It’s too late for cop work” he said, his soft voice breaking the silence.

She looked up at him, and once again tried to stifle another yawn. “We’re too close to stop now”

“Aren’t you supposed to go to sleep and get a fresh perspective in the morning on these sortsa things?”

Percy didn’t reply, but rather she turned back towards the paper-covered kitchen table.

“You need sleep, Perce.”

“Duly noted” she stated, as she finished the remains of her hot chocolate.

He rolled his eyes as he took her mug of her, and placed them both in the sink.

She was about to murmur a ‘thankyou’, but was cut short by the rat man scooping her up in his arms and walking up the stairs, going slowly as to not trip and drop the blonde.

“Ramsey what are you doing?”

“Taking you to bed, what does it look like?”

She huffed and turned to face his chest. When he looked down he could almost see a faint dusting of pink on her cheeks, but he couldn’t be sure.

He kicked back the covers of her bed with his foot, quite the balancing act when he was trying to not drop another person. With slow movements, he laid her down on the mattress, which is when he realised that she had fallen asleep, clutching to his shirt. It took a few moments of gently prying her hands off the fabric until she was fully lying down. He pulled the duvet over her, which she immediately clutched close to her on an instinct.

He smiled. She looked so peaceful.

Thankfully the both of them were already in pyjamas (Percy looked _adorable_ in hers), which made the whole ordeal easier. All his clothes were in boxes around the house, seeing how they never really got round to fixing his sleeping situation.

Speaking of, he trudged back down the stairs and melted into the couch cushions. The clock on the wall read 1:24 am. He had no idea how Percy managed to do this on a regular basis. Or maybe he could, and that was why she had such low stamina. Either that or her eating habits.

As he gathered the blankets and pillow and arranged them on the sofa, he let his mind drift.

 _Was there anything unusual about the gallery apart from the whole stolen painting?_ Ramsey scrounged up his face in thought, making it resemble a rat more than the usual.

_Wait._

He shot up.

_The shiny painting!_

How had he not noticed it before! Most oil paintings from that era are matte, the oils being worn down with age, and new oils have a sheen to them, and they weren’t told of any restorations – oh god.

He raced up off the couch and scrambled to the kitchen, grabbing whatever plain paper and pen he could find. He wrote quickly, afraid of losing the train of due to his weariness, his usual loopy handwriting larger and more uneven. If it were possible, he was pretty sure his pen would have caught fire.

After a solid 5 minutes everything was written out.

His hand ached but it was worth it.

Ramsey sighed.

_Time to go to sleep for real this time._

* * *

Ramsey poured out a bowl of cereal for Percy, who sat down at the table, a glass of water in her hands (sans butter).

She gazed over the notes he had made at night (morning?), as he passed her the bowl (he didn’t want to risk getting milk onto their papers that still covered the table like a highly confidential, budget tablecloth).

“I think you’ve cracked it Ramsey” she broke the silence, voice still hoarse from the morning grog.

“Yeah well what can I say, I’m a genius after all!” he held his own cereal in his hand, before looking around for a seat, eventually settling on the kitchen counter.

“Would a genius sit in a food preparation area?” she ate a spoonful of her cereal.

“You can clean things you know” he rolled his eyes and took a swig of his coffee.

Percy raised an eyebrow. “It’s more the thought of your rat buttocks next to the place where I make toast”.

“Fine, alright jeeze” he hopped off, and stood next to her. He was already taller than her, but when she was sat down she looked tiny.

“Thankyou” she craned her neck and smiled.

That smile. That damn smile. His one weakness.

“Well we should get going, gotta catch those crooks, right?”

She stood up, and placed her bowl in the sink. “Indeed, we can’t let them get away with such vile activity.”

“Meet me down here in ten?”

“Hm?”

“You can’t solve crime in pyjamas, Perce.”

She looked down at her shorts, tank top and fluffy socks.

“Ah.”

He laughed “get changed you walnut”

“I resent that!” she called to him as she walked back upstairs.

It should be illegal to be that cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to comment!! ITs January so it's illegal not to. 
> 
> Its also like a magic spell! the more comments i get the quicker the next chapter comes out!!


	3. Consider One's Defences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The case is cracked.
> 
> It's time to confront the criminals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> psst, I added a bit to chapter 1! a part of this chapter will only make sense if you read it again whoops. We love retcons. 
> 
> (in my defence, that chapter was only ever meant to be a one-shot. I'm simply a fool of my own making)

They were in the car, yet again. Ramsey sat in the driver’s seat, as he may not be a morning person but Percy was in the middle of contacting the station so that they could start searching for any painting that was in the gallery on the black market. He was, of course, respecting the speed limit, as per her request.

As they pulled up into the parking lot of the gallery, he couldn’t help but notice a rather large crowd of people gathered outside. They couldn’t get past the steps however, being blocked by both the security guards and the police.

They got out of the car and braced themselves for squeezing through the crowd. Apparently the crime managed to cause a huge stir in the high art community.

They got to the back, and there wasn’t really an easier way to get through.

Ramsey ended up grabbing her hand and leading the way whilst she flashed her badge, in order for them not to be drowned out by the mass of humans.

Once they had made it up the steps and through the doors (Percy did show her badge, but she was so well known in the police force that she didn’t really need to) they, to Ramsey’s disappointment, let go of each other’s hands and stopped for a breather.

“You okay Perce?” he asked her, his soft tone filling the large room.

“Yes, I’ll be fine” she put her badge back on her uniform with trembling hands “I’m just not the best at dealing with large crowds and human contact”

His eyes widened. “Oh Percy I’m sorry about the hand-”

She waved him off “No, you’re quite alright, once I’m close to someone touch doesn’t feel…bad.” She paused, as if a little unsure of her own words. “Does that make sense?”

“Makes sense to me” he sighed in relief, as they both started to walk past the reception area and into the gallery itself.

* * *

“Are any of these standing out to you?”

Ramsey peered at the 43rd painting.

“No.”

“Damn. Are you sure you can’t remember where it was?”

“I’m trying Perce” he sighed. “I’m tired and we had other stuff goin’ on yesterday”

“My apologies”

They were looking through the gallery again, eyeing each painting. Or. Well. Ramsey was. Percy just sort of followed him, due to her lack of knowledge of the classical arts.

She wandered away from him, trying to catch a glint of light on one of the paintings not yet looked at down the hall, as he moved onto the 44th.

Just then, the sun peaked out from behind it’s cloud and shone through the skylight, illuminating one painting that hung on the wall just to her left. It shimmered in the early morning light-

Wait.

She stepped closer to it, and inspected it.

It was simple piece. It depicted a lone man looking out from across a hilltop, the brushstrokes giving the sky a gentle red and blue hues like as if depicting a sun set. The label called it “Wanderer above the world”, somewhat fitting. However, the paint had a sheen to it. It by no means was wet, but there was a certain glossiness to it, one that was absent on the other paintings.

She peered closer. In the wider areas of colour, there seemed to be brush bristles suck inside the paint, as if the creator themselves were in a rush. Percy was no expert, but she knew for a fact that you wouldn’t get bristles in a professional painting, otherwise it would significantly decrease the value. After all, an interior designer never leaves bristles in the walls of their homes, so why would a piece of art be any different?

Mysteries upon mysteries.

“Ramsey?” she called out to him, where he was presumably on his 46th painting down the hall.

He whipped his head around immediately, and speed-walked towards her when she nodded her head towards the painting.

“That...” he squinted at the painting, before his eyes widened “this is it!” he exclaimed “percy you’re a genius!”

“Well I do try” she smiled, pulling put her phone to inform the Tech department to look for listings of ‘Wanderer above the World’.

She tried to put her phone away, but instead almost dropped it when it started vibrating unexpectedly in her hands. She fumbled with t for a second before answering it on speaker.

“Detective King? We’ve found the painting you’re looking for, it’s been listed for $10 million, do you want me to send you the address?”

Percy and Ramsey locked eyes.

“Yes please, that would be most helpful”

* * *

Ramsey couldn’t deny that going into a house like this wasn’t terrifying. It’s one thing going into the scene of a crime in the aftermath, but another one entirely when you’re about to infiltrate a crime den. Despite his history in them.

It’s a little different when you’re on the other side of the law.

The street they had found themselves winding up in was on the outskirts of the city, not quite a suburb, more a run down, ramshackle neighbourhood. The houses were cramped together, all in line as if to fit as many houses there as possible, with ugly brown brickwork that sprouted weeds from the cracks. The whole area wasn’t exactly structurally sound, and he didn’t need an epithet to figure that out.

Percy rapped on the door three times with her knuckles, her gloves surprisingly not muting the sound.

“Citizens, this is the police, open up” her voice rang out, ringing with authority.

No answer.

She knocked harder.

“If you do not open up we will have no choice but to force entry”

Again.

No answer.

“We have a warrant right?” Ramsey muttered from his spot, a few feet behind her.

She nodded, to which he took as his que to go into the trunk of the car and pull out the standard issue police lock picking kit. Not illegal.

Percy side-stepped, allowing the rat man access to the door lock, where he immediately knelt down and got to work, making quick progress. Evidently the security was not the best quality, but that’s what you got in this area apparently.

“Should I be concerned about your proficiency at this particular activity?” Percy folder her arms and smirked.

“I actually learned this completely legally in college if you needed to know” he would have rolled his eye but he was far to concentrated to do that.

“You have an art degree though?”

“It was a themed night in one of the societies, it just peaked my interest”

Just then, a click was heard from the lock. Ramsey gently pressed down on the handle and pushed open the door. It complied, but only after a resigned squeak.

Percy unsheathed her sword, and Ramsey, sans weapons, simply clenched his fists, the knuckles subconsciously turning into gold.

He led the way into the house, lock picks laying forgotten on the concrete.

The doors in the hallway were closed, but if they strained their ears they could hear the hushed whispers beyond.

He pushed the handle down on the inside door, for it to reaveale the lounge, with at least 15 uniformed criminals surrounding the ferret art gallery owner. They wore dark grey uniforms, with dark green stripes around the biceps. The Ferret in turn was sat down on the couch, a glass of wine in his hand, looking somewhat stiff.

When he saw them, he immediately sprung to his feet, some of the wine sloshing onto the dingy carpet. “Ahhh, detective, not-detective, what a pleasant surprise!” he awkwardly laughed, the notes varying up and down in scale “As you can see, I did a little digging myself, and wouldn’t you know it I ended up here of all places! What a coincidence!”

Percy narrowed her eyes.

“Ramsey, find the paintings”

He nodded, and rushed upstairs. “Oh there’s really no need for that, everything is positively spiffulent here! Nothing to worry abou-”

He was cut off by a thud from above.

A low growl was heard behind him. A woman, whose uniform was adorned with significantly more stripes narrowed her eyes. “Enough of this” she pulled out her peashooter, her minions quickly following suit, tugging the Ferret from back behind the firing line. She was the same woman from the gallery.

It was an inside job all along.

Percy breathed, then held up her sword. Not enough time for a wizard tower. Unstable foundations as well.

“Fire”

* * *

As soon as Ramsey had rushed up the stairs and opened the first bedroom door, he saw the paintings. Both the smaller one, and the unnoticed, larger one.

They were, however, guarded by 3 of the gang members.

They all whipped out standard-issue peashooters and pointed them at him His body instinctively turned to gold where they were aiming.

“Say, you fellas wouldn’t be so kind to give a guy those paintings, right?”

They fired, the bullets having little effect.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought”

He rushed towards the first minion, grabbing her gun and turned it to gold. It landed on the floor with a heavy _thud_.

Now weaponless, the minion’s eyes widened as she stepped back. The other two kept firing, but he was soon able to grab the guns and turn those into gold as well. Now the guns were in his hands.

He transmuted them back, and opened fire, dealing the minions with enough minor impact damage to keep them down for a while. He nodded, satisfied, before running back downstairs.

* * *

As much as she hated to admit it, Percy was losing.

Her sword could only deflect most of the bullets, and there was a fair few that ended up hitting her.

With a grimace, she summoned a wizard tower, some of the rocks crumbling off as soon as they were placed down, and zapped three of the minions at the front.

Efficient, but her stamina was running low.

Surprisingly, she hadn’t run out yet. She accredited that to Ramsey’s cooking.

She couldn’t zap again though.

The minions were inching closer and closer, a few more hits and she would be down.

Just then, she heard a series of footsteps rushed closer, banging louder and louder as Ramsey burst through the door, guns blazing. He took out three more minions just as a stray zap from the tower took out one more. It crumbled to dust from the effort.

“Good news, Perce, this is the real deal”

“Oh thank god” she muttered, wobbling on her feet, relieved that the gunfire was now aimed away from her.

She looked. So tired.

A pang of guilt wormed its way into Ramsey’s heart, before being drowned out again by the adrenalin.

She stumbled backwards, grasping the wall for support.

Then.

Everything got louder.

Shouts like a crowd surging to life could be heard.

The backup had arrived.

They stormed through the door, swiftly apprehending the criminals as Ramsey, now free, rushed to Percy’s side as she finally collapsed onto her knees.

“They’re upstairs” he called out to them, as he held her and she leant into his embrace. He wrapped his arms around her secure, as she rested her eyes and breathed heavily, her head buried in the crook of his neck.

She wouldn’t recover her stamina from winning, as he had come in and taken over, and in turn the uniformed officers finished the job.

The officers began marching the criminals out, each one securely in eraser cuffs, preventing any means for their escape. He tried to supress a shudder at the thought of the cuffs, for Percy’s sake.

“Come on” he whispered to her “We should get going, we have food in the car”

She groaned.

“Do you want me to carry you?”

She hummed in response.

“Of course you do” he let out a soft laugh, before scooping her up into his arms (much like the night before) and slowly carried her out of the front of the house.

“Percy! Do you need me to look over you or anything?” Meryl, on of Percy’s work friends (and subsequently a medic) rushed towards them.

Ramsey looked down at her, where the blonde shook her head.

“I think she’ll be fine, just get some food down the hatch and a couple a day off work and she’ll be right as rain”

“If she says so” Meryl also knew of Percy’s low stamina (heck, most of the police force knew) and as such constantly worried for her friend. She seemed in good hands though. A lot of her co-workers had noticed that she looked healthier after Ramsey had moved in with her. So, she trusted him.

“Can you open the door for me though” he asked her, as she rolled her eyes and unlocked the duo’s car, so that he could set the detective in without some sort of balancing act.

“Thankyou”

“Yeah yeah, see you around lover boy”

His cheeks flushed pink, and he quickly glanced at Percy, who was too out of it to actually process what she said.

Well. He _hoped_ she was too out of it. Percy noticed really obscure things when she was in ‘about to pass out’ mode.

After buckling her in (safety first) and handing her a bottle of water and a granola bar, they were on their way back home. Paperwork can wait after all.

“So” he broke the silence after Percy had regained some consciousness. “What do you want for diner? I’m cooking”

“Pinecones”

“Percival King I am not cooking pinecones”

She choked out a laugh. “Just a small joke, I wasn’t serious”

“Of course you weren’t.” he breathed in relief “But seriously, what do you want?”

“I don’t know, anything you make is certain to be delicious anyway”

“I’m flattered”

“So you should be.”

They were both quiet for a moment.

“I do believe you said something about a walk in the woods to celebrate solving this crime?” she piped up, much more awake than before.

H glanced at her quickly.

“You mean to the castle ruins?”

She nodded, before realising that he was focusing on the road. “oh uh yes”. (he did see her though; they were at a red light.)

“We can go in two days? You’re spending tomorrow resting and no you can’t get out of it.” He finished before she could protest.

“But my job-”

“Nope” they pulled up into the driveway. “Sleep and good food tomorrow or I won’t take you to the ruins”

She huffed, which he found adorable.

“Fine.”

…

“Carry me inside, please?”

He laughed.

“Of course, anything for you Perce.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5 points to whoever guesses what the last chapter is going to be lol.
> 
> This chapter took a while to write because its 2442 words and both my graphics and computer science courseworks are due on Monday (also known as what a fun weekend I'm going to have).
> 
> And!! i've been reading all of your comments and honestly, whenever i feel sad or unmotivated i pull up my inbox and IMMIDIETLY SMILE!
> 
> So please. Spare a comment?
> 
> Also if someone draws the bit at the end where Percy is in Ramsey's arms I will die for you and write you a drabble.


	4. The Eye of a Hurricane.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After solving the case, its time for Percy to take Ramsey up on his promise of visiting the castle ruins in the woods.
> 
> Warning: scandalous acts such as hand-holding occur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the final chapter!! its about time lol. After this i'm going to go back t writing one-shots (i alread have one written in my notebook, it just needs typing up lol).
> 
> ALso i feel like percys is both in -character and out of character here? I write her as autistic because I'm autistic and i thrive with good representation, and i shes much more bubbly in this chapter. But like. me on a regular basis vs me talking about my hyperfocus is a full 180 from stoic to a big ball of energy. And Percy in this chapter is freely allowed to talk about her hyperfocus in a safe environment with someone who really cares about her. Also she doesn't have to put on the scary police persona or anything lol.
> 
> anyways, enjoy!!

The car park here was barely covered a layer of rocks. It was a clearing of dirt, which made the car shake in an uncomfortable way, but Percy was far too excited to care.

In fact, Ramsey was fairly certain that she was bouncing in her seat on her own _despite_ the terrible road.

It was adorable. Not many people got to see this side of her, usually used to the stern, stoic front she had whilst on duty. He felt very lucky to get that privilege.

For the past couple of days, she’d been growing visibly more excited for this trip, rarely keeping still when she needed the rest from their last case. Of course, that only worried Ramsey, but she seemed _fine_ , and she _assured_ him she was _fine_ so he’d just have to see.

She wasn’t wearing her uniform today, which was strange as she never really left the house without it on. She was far to dedicated to her work (the few times that she _did_ she would either be undercover or quickly popping out to the shops).

But I digress. Today she was wearing something much more suited to the woodland environment, hiking boots that they had managed to find buried in the back of her wardrobe that miraculously still fit her, a pair of khaki shorts and a black vest top. She didn’t really have anything that would function like a jacket, so Ramsey did some digging in one of his cardboard boxes of clothes and managed to find her a dark blue flannel shirt, which he had only ever worn once or twice. Blue wasn’t his colour; it was much more suited to the short blonde.

He, in turn was out of his regular clothes (or the clothes he usually solved crimes in, not the Hawaiian dollar store juice box mess he was wearing when they had first met). Instead, he was in red, white and black camo-cargo pants (Percy had already took the liberty to make a ‘you’re legs have gone missing!’ joke), a loose black shirt and a grey version of the jacket he usually wore to the precinct. Where he got it from was beyond her.

When the car was finally parked up, she immediately got out and opened the trunk, where two backpacks were waiting for them, one was small and a navy blue, the other was the standard size, grey with red piping. She grabbed the blue one, as Ramsey appeared beside her and pick up the grey one.

As she slung hers onto her back, she bounced on the balls of her feat, waiting for Ramsey so that they could get going.

After what felt like _forever_ , he finally locked the car and started walking towards the gate which separated the car park from the woods.

Then finally, _finally_ they were in. The trees looked like they went on for miles, the sun shone in dappled light on the ground and birds sung sweet harmonies in the trees. The breeze carried along with it the smell of the dirt and fresh leaves.

In a bittersweet way it reminded both of them of the day they first properly met. This time however had a distinct lack of any garbage cowgirls trying to kill them.

Ramsey pulled out the map he had printed out the day before and studied it, Percy peering by his side.

“I think we should just go up this path and then we’ll be fine.” He gestured in front of them, where, conveniently enough, there was quite a wide footpath, lined with trees and small ditches either side, presumably for water when it rained.

“Well then what are we waiting for?” she turned her attention from the path and onto him.

“Nothing, let’s go” he smiled down at her. The sunlight had found its way into her hair, giving her a soft golden glow.

* * *

They had been walking for five minutes now, in a comfortable silence that came with being near someone you knew well and held dear to you. Percy, was still rather excited, but much less visibly so now. She still scanned the area every 20 seconds for any signs of the castle but to no avail.

“How much farther is it?” she broke the silence.

Ramsey paused in his stride, and quickly checked the map.

“Not too far, like 5 more minutes?”

Percy smiled.

“Why, you excited?”

“You’re only just asking me this now?” she raised an eyebrow as the pair started walking again.

“Well before it was obvious.”

“…Oh” her shoulders sagged a slight at that.

“Not that that’s a bad thing!” he hurriedly corrected himself “I love it when you get excited!”

“Oh!” in an instant her face lit up again. That was good. He’s do anything to protect that smile of hers.

…

_God_ he really did have it bad, huh?

She turned away from him and towards the path again, squinting forwards.

“Ramsey, is that…?”

It was.

Through the trees, old grey stonework was peeking out, tall and welcoming.

“Yup”

“Hurry up then!” she grabbed his hand in hers and started speed-walking (borderline jogging) up to the castle, dragging Ramsey along.

“Woah woah woah slow down Perce, you’ll run outta stamina again!”

“Ah oh. Sorry” she sheepishly turned around and slowed her walk “Its just the excitement, you know?”

“Yeah, I know”

* * *

After a short walk, they had reached the castle entrance, hands still entwined.

Okay. This was worth it.

The way Percy’s eyes shone with delight made the stress of keeping it a surprise and her running out of stamina melt away.

Strangely enough, with just the two of them in nature, alone, he felt at bliss. Like the universe was giving him a moment of calm in their otherwise hectic lives. Everything right now was perfect.

As they walked into the courtyard Percy let go of his hand and did a full spin to really take in the place. She looked so at peace.

His hand felt strangely empty without hers though.

He needn’t have worried however, as soon her fingers wormed their way between his again, which of course he allowed.

“What do you want to do first?” he asked, voice softer than his usual tone.

“Explore?” she looked up at him with expectant eyes.

“Sure thing!”

* * *

Percy had stopped them multiple times to get photos on her old battered camera. Not that he minded.

In this particular moment she was running her palms along a set of crumbled spiral stairs, feeling the history of them flow through her. She quickly took another photo before gesturing to Ramsey to follow her further into the castle.

This time they were in a large room, without a roof, and with a thick window (or rather a lack of window), which overlooked the lower parts of the forest. The castle itself was near the edge of a cliff. The wildflowers grew within the cracks in the walls here, and looked like they were slowly making their way across the dirt floor.

“Heya, Perce? I had a great idea”

“hm?”

“If you sit in the window I’ll take a picture of you”

“ _Really?_ ”

“Trust me, I have an art degree”

“Okay then. My camera isn’t the best though” she warned him.

“I can use my phone”

“Sounds good to me”

The window itself was quite high, so Ramsey gave her a boost up, waiting until she was securely in place before stepping back and getting out his phone.

“Yo Perce! This place is really good for doing some art, you know?” he raised his voice so that it would carry over to her.

She looked confused.

“It’s gotten me really in-spired!”

She paused.

Then began to laugh.

Ramsey took the opportunity to snap some photos (a natural smile is _always_ the west way to go, in his humble opinion).

And if he happened to use one as his phone wallpaper?

No-one had to know.

* * *

After a good couple of hours walking around and going into all the nooks and crannies, the pair finally settled down for their picnic. Well. Not a picnic in a traditional sense, but hey! Warm pb+j sandwiches were simple but effective!

They sat in the courtyard, in the spot that let them overlook the forest below them (there wasn’t a wall here, just a rather rusty looking black railing) and ate their lunch in peace.

Percy rested her head on Ramsey’s shoulders, leaning into his side, whilst her leant his onto her head, in a sort of interlocking sitting position.

“Thank you for today, Ramsey” she said, voice content “I really enjoyed it”

“No problem Perce, I did promise after all”

“I know” she sighed, relaxed. “I’m so glad you did”

“So are you ready to go back to work tomorrow?”

She didn’t reply right away, like he expected her to.

“I’m not sure. Most likely” she finally answered him.

“Well, that was certainly unexpected.”

“I just want this moment to last forever”

“Me too Perce, me too”

* * *

When they walked back to the car, their hands were entwined yet again. They both decide that they could get used to it.

And when they got home, they sat on the couch together and watched terrible moves.

Overall a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, this was a doozy!!
> 
> Don't forget to comment!! Seeing my inbox fill up gives my brain the happy juice and makes my whole day better.


End file.
